We probably should have seen this coming. One of the world’s best players approaching the latter stages of his prime signs with Major League Soccer, declares his loyalty and commitment, and the minute he does well he gets the itch to return to the big stage and his former glory.

David Beckham has done it for the past five years, going back and forth to Italy on loan deals that sapped the strength from his legs, led to injury and cut deeply into the MLS season, which should have been his first priority.

He treated the Galaxy not like the club that owned his contract, but as a secondary option to keep in shape for what he felt really mattered — his international career.

Now we have Thierry Henry being lured back to Arsenal, the club where he became a star and set a franchise record with 226 goals from 1999-2007. The same club that last month unveiled a bronze statue of Henry outside the stadium, and in a poll on its website three years ago, declared Henry Arsenal’s greatest player.

It is said to be a two-month loan deal, and we’ll have to wait to see if that’s true. Landon Donovan is on the same restriction with Everton, even after Everton wanted to keep him longer the last time he was loaned there, but the Galaxy insisted on his return, on time, before the MLS season began.

It will be interesting to see if the Red Bulls, specifically GM and sporting director Erik Soler, have the backbone to stand up to one of the world’s most powerful clubs.

Of course, this is the same Erik Soler who insisted in a conference call Dec. 13 that Henry would not be loaned to any club during the offseason.

“No. This always comes up when we have an offseason,” Soler said that day. “We have no plans of loaning any players anywhere. Thierry’s working out at Arsenal to stay fit. We’re happy that he’s doing so, but he’s coming back and we’re not taking a loan for Thierry or any other players.”

Many European players who have played in MLS have complained about the long offseason, but they should have known this going in, especially when weather conditions all but rule out playing through the winter.

Still, it seems clear that by allowing Henry to train with Arsenal the Red Bulls set the inevitable in motion.

Henry is extremely close to longtime Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, a fellow Frenchman, but with Arsenal having not won a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup, fans are losing patience with Wenger.

Monday’s loss to Fulham dropped Arsenal to fifth place in the English Premier League with an 11-6-3 record, nine points behind co-leaders Manchester City and Manchester United. More importantly to the club, that is one place below the cutoff to qualify for the Champions League, and no big club in this economic climate can afford not to qualify for such a lucrative tournament.

Arsenal’s biggest problem is injuries to its defense, the prospective loss of players to the African Cup of Nations and cover for forward Robin van Persie. With Henry in London observing this first hand, the lure to rescue his old team had to be strong. But what does that mean for the Red Bulls?

Henry, who has three years remaining on his contract, will turn 35 in August. For a player being counted on to be one of the top goal-scorers in the league, that’s not an age where you want him playing extra games, especially in a physical league.

Even if Henry comes through the loan injury free, he will play at least 10 months this year, 11 should the Red Bulls make a deep playoff run, which is the goal, isn’t it?

The Red Bulls are scheduled to begin practicing Jan. 15 and will play in a preseason tournament in Arizona Feb. 22 to March 3, with the season opening March 11 at FC Dallas.

Henry is scheduled to return to the Red Bulls Feb. 20, which gives him three weeks to assimilate into the club after missing five weeks of the preseason.

And for a team that lacked chemistry last season, you would have hoped that the captain and leading scorer would be there to rectify that issue.

Let’s hope that the Red Bulls, who did a 180 and gave in to the loan deal for Henry, have the spine to insist on his return on time. If not, they’re in danger of becoming just another low-level team that gives up its assets and kowtows to a bigger, more powerful club that’s in panic mode.